About
The Canadian Ski Instructors Alliance (CSIA) provide the internationally recognised ski instructor course and qualifications. The CSIA was established in 1938 and has around 26,000 members working world wide.
There are now hundreds of instructors working throughout the states, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, Europe and Andorra, who gained or furthered their qualifications with our CSIA courses in Soldeu-El Tarter.
CSIA Courses in Andorra
The Course Information below has been extracted from
the CSIA website and relates to the course structure in Canada. In Andorra,
although the Goals and Content amount to the same, you will notice differences
to the Course Outline and Schedule. For example all Indoor course work
in Andorra usually takes place in the evenings.
| Please Note: All the course details on instructor-academy.com
are for your guidance only. The content will rarely change but
the actual course structure day-by-day is decided by the Course
Conductor in resort. |
Snow Park Certification Course |
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 The course content is directed at full and part-time ski instructors and includes:
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the basics of practical ski teaching methods, technical understanding and development of the guest experience. |
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safe teaching and safety in Snow Park |
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skill development on Park features: Switch skiing, Jumps, Rails, Half pipe |
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Snow Park teaching progression |
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Duration: |
7 days including Evaluation |
Prerequisites: |
15 years of age with some Park experience |
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The Snow Park certification is for any skier over the age of 15 that is a competent parallel skier and wants an introduction to teaching Snow Park skills. The successful candidate is certified to teach Snow Park skills up to and including intermediate skill level.
The course is divided between ski improvement, park and
pipe skills, and teaching methods. It combines the
basics of practical ski teaching methods, technical
understanding and development of the guest experience.
Candidates will receive coaching on their skiing, teaching
and people skills with the goal of reaching the Snow
Park Certification standard. They will also receive suggestions
and strategies for long-term development.
This certification makes you a member of the C.S.I.A.
and gives you a technical credit towards Canadian Freestyle
Ski Association certification. |
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| Indoor Content |
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Introduction to CSIA |
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Technique workshop |
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Review skill progressions |
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Safe teaching and proper etiquette in Snow Park |
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Teaching Skills and Guest Experience/ Lesson Planning |
Outdoor Content |
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Ski Improvement and Skill development |
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Snow Park progressions /teaching |
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Snow Park safety |
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Skill assessment and development methods |
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NB: Participants must wear
a helmet.
Recommended material for the course:
Twin tip skis, Gloves (for grab), Mouth guard (strongly recommended)
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SNOW
PARK CERTIFICATION STANDARDS |
 Skill demonstration requirements for participants
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Skiing |
Demonstrate short radius and longer radius parallel turns on groomed intermediate terrain with a good blend of the 5 basic skills: |
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stance & balance – centred and mobile in all joints |
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pivoting – turning effort in the lower body |
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edging – can increase edge grip with angulation, and demonstrates a round turn shape |
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pressure control – uses a range of movement to control snow contact and steering |
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timing & co-ordination – movements are appropriate to speed and turn type |
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Switch Skiing |
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Demonstrate switch skiing on blue (intermediate) terrain. |
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Show the ability to change direction (switch) at will. |
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Air |
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Show the ability to judge in-run speed and demonstrate proper take-off and landing on entry level jumps. |
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Be at ease and balanced in jumps of at least 1 metre of amplitude |
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Correctly demonstrate three (3) of the following straight air skills:
spread, twister, daffy, tail grab, rocket air, cossack, mute grab or japan air.
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Correctly demonstrate twisting air skills of 180 and 360 degrees |
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| Pipe |
Demonstrate the following half-pipe skills: |
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Proper technique for dropping in to a half pipe |
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Straight air with at least one foot of amplitude to fakie (switch) landing |
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Run through the pipe consisting of dropping in and linking at least 5 hits. The run should be fluid, with 3 of 5 hits above the lip of the pipe. |
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Proper pipe etiquette must be used |
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| Rail |
Correctly demonstrate rail skills |
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Grinding on a plastic rail (minimum 3 meters), up to 0.30 meters off the ground
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Exit rail slide with control, hopping back to forward and backward position |
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| Technical understanding: |
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·Lesson is skill related. |
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Should be able to identify symptoms of obvious skill deficiencies. |
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Should relate teaching tactics to the skills and/or a part of the task |
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| Student Centered Teaching |
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Show a basic lesson structure (“6 steps” manual p 4.8). |
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Demonstrate safe teaching practices. |
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Show basic class organization. |
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| Guest Service: |
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Show coherent verbal communication to individuals in the group. |
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Self confidence |
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Positive attitude and body language. |
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Candidates are evaluated on their ongoing participation and performance on and off snow. In addition, there are specific demonstration assessments that are 50% of the final ski result. The assessment runs are half-pipe, straight airs and a free run on blue terrain (see detailed descriptions above). |
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Candidates must pass both skiing and teaching aspects to be Snow Park certified. |
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Candidates will receive 1-on-1 evaluations from their course conductors on day one. Final results are presented on day 3. |
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Pass (P) or Fail (F) |
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Re-test on Skiing or Teaching |
Candidates who fail either component must take the entire course over again. |
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PM |
Day 1 |
Registration
Ski Improvement - skill development and warming up for the park
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Switch skiing and rail progression
Safety in Snow Park
Indoor:
* Introduction to Course Materials
* Technique - Basic Skills
* Switch and rail progression review
* Effective Teaching and Safety/Park Etiquette
* Reading assignment |
Day 2 |
Air Progression - teaching workshop |
Half-Pipe progression - teaching workshop
Indoor:
* Air and Half-Pipe progression review
* Lesson planning workshop
* Developing the Guest experience/Ethical teaching
* Reading assignment
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Day 3 |
Snow Park teaching assignments |
Snow Park demonstrations assessments
Tactics for development
Indoor:
*Results |
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| This schedule may be
adjusted in consideration of conditions, weather and
facilities |
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